Celebrating Change

We have short memories of poor, wretched Ebenezer Scrooge. Here was a fallen man in desperate need of redemption, with absolutely no desire to turn from his egregious ways. Then three spirits visited him, and all changed overnight. But the Scrooge we remember is not the forgiven one. It is not the redeemed curmudgeon whose joy on Christmas morning led him to leap through the air like a drunken man, exclaiming ‘Glorious, glorious!’ We like to keep Scrooge locked in our hearts as the greedy, depraved, unregenerate sinner of his pre-visitation, using him as a cautionary tale about the damning effects of pursuing money and gain. Ebenezer found joy, but we rarely let him have it. Yet when this joy was finally loosed in him, it knew no bounds” (Ronnie Martin, “Scrooge, Overjoyed,” The Gospel Coalition, December 11, 2011, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/scrooge-overjoyed/). When people are transformed by God, we need to celebrate their new life.